


The mark of love

by Gallavich_On_The_Impala



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-19
Updated: 2015-02-19
Packaged: 2018-03-13 19:14:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3393047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gallavich_On_The_Impala/pseuds/Gallavich_On_The_Impala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Soulmate!Au where everyone gets a mark on their skin (not really a tattoo, more like a birthmark, but when they reach puberty) displaying the name of the person they’ll love.</p><p>I feel like the Soulmate!Au has been written in any way possible, I’m sorry if it’s not that original, but I’ve always wanted to write one myself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The mark of love

Mickey Milkovich was a thug, a bully. You could ask anyone in the ‘hood and that’s what they’d tell you. That he’s trouble, that the apple doesn’t fall away from the tree, - and this particular tree was nasty - and such. He wasn’t big or tall, but he was muscular and strong. He had piercing blue eyes and black hair.  
He didn’t fight the rumors, he embraced them, even fueled them. He was raised in an abusive and fucked up home and always did what people expected him to do: behave like a rabid dog. But when he was 13, something changed. He was sleeping, when suddenly his ribs started to hurt like he’d been burnt. The pain woke him up and he ran to the bathroom, looking for a mirror to see what the hell was going on. Still half asleep he saw a red-ish mark on his ribs, under his left armpit. He had the mark.

He never really cared for that thing, he used to think it was girl stuff to be excited, but when he saw his he was fucking terrified. His hands shook as he traced the letters with his fingers on his still sore skin. I A N.  
"Ian" was a boy’s name.  
His father would have killed him, had he found out.  
From that day on, Mickey never left his room without a shirt on, and never let anyone else see it.

 

*****************

Ian Gallagher was the sweetest boy, even though he grew up in a terrible neighborhood. He was gentle, selfless and caring. He was tall, well-built, with green eyes, astonishing red hair and freckles all over his body.  
He was almost thirteen when it happened. He went for a run when suddenly an itching pain had him stop to catch his breath. His thigh was burning. He lift up his sweats and saw the mark. He already knew it was going to be a boy's name, but when he saw the little “Michail” pop up, he didn't know what to do.  
“What the fuck”, he thought.  
He had always dreamt of this moment, but he was hoping the mark would have a name he already knew. Instead, he had to start looking for a Michail, who knows where.

When he got home, his siblings Lip and Fiona saw his face and knew something was wrong. He showed them the dark pink mark on his thigh and started crying.  
Fiona hugged him, motherly, while Lip tried to cheer him up. “Come on, the world is not that big! You’ll find him sooner or later!”  
“Easy for you to say, you’ve got Karen, she lives 5 minutes away from here!” complained Ian “What if he lives, I don’t know, in Ukraine and doesn’t even speak english?” He was scared he’d die alone before he found his soulmate. He had always been a little dramatic.

*********

Mickey cried himself to sleep every night since he got the mark. He became even tougher on the outside, to hide how fragile and scared he was on the inside. He got intimidating tattoos and scars along the way, his reputation preceding him.  
He imagined his Ian to be tall and funny, but he also feared the moment he’d meet him, if he ever did. He knew there was no going back. The people who never got to meet their soulmate because he/she had died or those who had settled for someone who wasn’t their soulmate looked like ghosts, living in the delusion of being happy.  
He imagined Ian’s lips to be soft and his hands to be gentle. Mickey had already fallen for this guy, without even meeting him.  
Until he did.

******

That day Ian woke up feeling different. He had a hunch it was not gonna be a normal day. He ignored that feeling a grabbed some breakfast before running to work at the store where he was a cashier.  
Business was slow and he was playing with his phone, when suddenly he was startled by a loud noise. A boy stormed in the shop holding his leg, bleeding all over the floor and wielding a gun.  
“Hide me” he barked. Ian complied, not thinking twice. “The back!” he yelled, pointing the boy towards a room behind the refrigerator.  
He grabbed a towel and started cleaning the floor.  
When the police ran inside the store he didn’t snitch, and as they left he hurried to lock the door and went to check on the injured thug, bringing the first aid kit along with a bottle of vodka.

The boy was sitting on the floor, moaning in agony. Ian quickly removed his belt and tied it above the wound on the boy’s thigh.  
He explained to him what he was doing, step by step, with a calm voice, to tranquilize him as he cleaned the injured leg to get a better look.  
“I realize you don’t want me to call 911, but this is really a nasty wound” he said  
“Well, no shit” replied the other boy, angry.  
The redhead handed him the bottle of vodka and warned him. “You’re gonna need plenty.”  
Mickey didn’t wanna look hurt or helpless but appreciated the fact that the boy was helping him and not judging him. He was handsome and had gentle hands.  
“I have to cut your jeans now. I’ll give you some sweats later.” assured the boy.  
Ian was looking at the nasty wound, touching the leg lightly.  
“Why are you groping me?” complained the dark-haired, suffering.  
“Sorry” laughed Ian, “I’m checking for an exit wound, but there seems to be none. The bullet is still inside and it needs to be taken out.” he explained.  
“Shit. Do what you gotta do, man” Mickey authorized him.  
“But I’m not a doctor! And it isn’t safe it’s not sterile here!” Ian didn’t even know how to begin explaining why it was such a bad idea.  
“Ok, listen, I know a guy. He’s a veterinarian, but he owes me. He’s gonna help” assured Mickey. 

Two minutes later Ian was sneaking an armed criminal outside Linda’s shop, from the back door. It all had happened so quickly but he never had a doubt. He would help that boy, no matter what. He didn’t even know why, hell, he didn’t even know his name. If Linda found out he’d be a dead man, luckily she was out of town with the whole family.  
They rushed to the mob doctor, Ian drove like he was on GTA.  
“Jesus, Red. Take it easy, you don’t wanna get pulled over, do you?” complained Mickey.  
“No, sorry.” He said, and started driving more carefully, following the other boy’s directions.

“Name’s Ian, by the way.” he said. Mickey felt his heart miss a beat. It couldn’t be.  
“Mmh” he muttered, thankful they got to the vet’s office so he could pretend he didn’t hear.  
Ian lifted him out of the car like he wasn’t even heavy. Mickey looked at his neck, he could see his veins and his freckles. His blue eyes lingered on Ian’s collarbones that he wanted to kiss so desperately. Before he could even realize he was being carried like a child, Ian was adjusting him gently on the operating table.  
The room was full of cages with dogs and cats, mostly asleep. Ian looked at them and wanted to pet them all.

The doctor got to work immediately. He didn't look like a mobster. He was short and fat, with white hair, but had a trustworthy face. He was wearing green scrubs and round glasses. The veterinarian put a pair of latex gloves and started examining Mickey's leg, as the boy groaned in pain.  
“You put this belt here, yes?” he asked Ian, with a strong italian accent.  
“Yeah.. Yeah I did” said Ian, worried.  
“You did good, you saved his life.” the doctor replied, anesthetizing Mickey’s leg and throwing away the syringe.  
Ian smiled, and patted Mickey’s shoulder, he talked to him, trying to distract him, while the veterinarian extracted the bullet. “So I never caught your name” insisted the redhead.  
“That’s cause I never said it” replied the thug “The less you know, the better.”  
Ian was going to insist but a sharp “ding” distracted the two boys. They both turned and saw that the doctor had successfully removed the bullet, throwing it in a steel bowl. “Do you want to keep it?” joked the veterinarian.  
“Fuck yeah I do” replied Mickey proud as he tried to sit up to get a better look.  
“Calm down, tough guy.” Ian placed a hand on the boy’s chest, pushing him down again. “He still has to stitch you up.”

Ian knew nothing of the boy. Still, he felt so protective, he wanted to take care of him and just hang out with him to get to know him better and see those eyes and that smile again. He didn’t want the doctor to finish his work, he didn’t want to separate from him cause he didn’t even know his name and he knew it would be hard to track him down.

When the doctor said he could go, he gave him some pain pills and they were off. Ian carried the nameless boy back to the car and asked him where to.  
“Well, I kinda need a beer, don’t you?” joked Mickey  
Ian smiled and said “I know a place”, starting the car and driving to the Alibi.

The place was almost empty, it was afternoon. The boys sat in a booth, Mickey limping evidently and leaning on Ian.  
They drank and laughed.  
Ian got serious after a while and asked “So, what happened today?”  
“None of your damn business, Red. I told you, the less you know, the better.” said Mickey, vague.  
“I didn’t do it for you to owe me. And my name’s Ian”, repeated the redhead.  
“I don’t give a shit” smiled Mickey, finishing his beer.  
“Come on, I won’t snitch. I’m just curious.” insisted Ian  
“Alright, listen. A guy fucked with the wrong people, let’s say. So my cousins and I gave him a lesson he won’t forget” scoffed the dark-haired, avoiding Ian’s look. He was scared of not seeing him again, even though he knew where he worked, but he was also scared of letting him know about the mark.

“Listen, thanks for what you did today. I won’t forget it. I owe you one. But now I gotta go.” said Mickey, standing up. It hurt more on the inside that on the outside.  
“I can drive you” offered Ian  
“Nah, don’t worry.” he replied, limping out of the bar.

 

Neither of them could sleep that night. They tossed and turned, thinking about each other. Mickey knew he was fucked. There really was no turning back now. Ian was exactly as he had imagined him. Tall and caring, handsome and funny. He wanted to kiss him, to be with him. He knew sex with a soulmate could blow your mind.  
Ian couldn’t take his mind off the boy he met. Every time he closed his eyes all he could see were those piercing blue eyes. That boy didn’t talk much, but damn, those eyes did. And he wanted to see them again.

The next day Ian was trying to clean the shop, when a familiar looking, dark-haired boy knocked on the door, ignoring the sign that said “closed for inventory.”  
Ian opened and the boy limped inside.  
Damn, those eyes. He was determined to not let him get away easily this time.  
“Hey, nameless boy”, joked the redhead.  
“Hey, big mouth”, replied the other one “I figured I could at least help you clean up the mess I made yesterday”  
“You can barely even stand” Ian pointed out.  
“Yeah well..” muttered Mickey and tried to gather the courage needed to say what he really wanted to say.  
“There’s something else.. It’s probably stupid but..” The dark haired took a deep breath and did something he hadn’t done for years. He took his shirt off, turned on his side and showed Ian his mark.

Ian gasped. Mickey added quickly “listen, there’s so many Ians in the world I don’t even know what I’m doing but since yesterday I can’t think about anything else, I had to try it.”  
Ian was still shocked. “Michail..?” he whispered, unzipping his jeans and exposing his thigh.

Mickey didn’t think twice. He walked quickly, ignoring the pain and dragging his injured leg, around the counter and kissed Ian like there was no tomorrow.  
"It's Mickey, anyway" he muttered, inbetween kisses.  
"It's gonna be Mick for me" smirked the redhead.  
Ian pushed all the stuff on the ground, lifted him and sat him on the counter, kissing him avidly and running his fingers on Mickey’s bare torso.  
After a few minutes of rough making out, Ian broke the kiss and said “the back room, now.” grabbing Mickey by the forearm and dragging him behind the fridge, where all of it started.  
“I always wanted to check if the carpet matched the drapes” smiled Mickey.  
“You’re about to see for yourself.” smirked the redhead.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for any mistakes, english is not my first language.  
> I hope you enjoyed this, I've always wanted to write a soulmate!au :)


End file.
